Let's walk together on road to peace

Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee (R) inspects a guard of honour at Red Fort to mark the country's 56th Independence Day in New Delhi yesterday. Vajapyee flagged off Independence Day celebrations with a call to Pakistan to end its support to cross-border militancy and boost bilateral trade, also highlighting the importance of nuclear weapons and said the arsenal had turned India into a powerful state. Photo: AFP

"This road is decidedly bumpy. There are even mines strewn along this path. Yet, once we start walking, we will find the hurdles getting out of our way," Vajpayee declared in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 57th Independence Day amid rains.

Emphasising that India wanted to settle all outstanding issues with its neighbours peacefully, the Prime Minister said that in recent months there had been some progress in normalising relations with Pakistan.

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"Nevertheless, terrorist activities are still continuing. The test of our neighbour's sincerity lies in whether he is prepared to stop cross-border terrorism totally," Vajpayee said in his sixth Independence Day address.

"Our frequent initiatives to normalise relations with Pakistan are not a sign of our weakness, rather they are an indication of our commitment to peace," he said.

Vajpayee, who spoke from behind a bullet-proof glass shield, said, "We hope Pakistan abjures its anti-India outlook. The people of both countries wish to live in peace."

Vajpayee said that he had been telling his Pakistani friends, "We have spent 50 years fighting. How much more blood is yet to be spilt? The two of us need to fight against poverty, against unemployment and against backwardness."

Stressing the need to increase trade and economic links between India and Pakistan, he said, "When we share a 2000-km long border, it makes no sense for us to trade via third country."

Vajpayee added, "Let people travel to and from. Let more and more elected representatives visit each other's country. Let us expand bilateral cultural relations. Let us open some new doors, new windows and new ventilators in the walls that divide us," he said.

On improvement of ties with Pakistan, Vajpayee said that the love that the two-year-old girl Noor from Lahore, who underwent a heart surgery in Bangalore, received in India, carried a message "which our friends in Pakistan should understand".

Vajpayee announced that he would be visiting Srinagar at the end of this month. "I had gone to Srinagar a few months back. I am going there again at the end of this month. The atmosphere there is changing."

Recalling that the Centre fulfilled its promise of holding free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister said that the polls demonstrated yet again the fact that the people of Kashmir had rebuffed terrorism from across the border.

"The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh have faith in democracy. They want peace. They would like to see happiness return to their lives," he said.

Vajpayee said that the people who advocated the right to self-determination in Kashmir, wanted to divide India on communal lines. "They will not be allowed to succeed in this," he said.

The Prime Minister said "knotty issues" in J&K could be unravelled only through dialogue. "We shall take forward the efforts that have been initiated in this direction. People who have been uprooted have to be resettled in their homes."

In his 25-minute speech, the Prime Minister announced India's decision to send its own spacecraft Chandrayaan-I to Moon by 2008.

He also announced launch of mobile telephony in Jammu and Kashmir next week besides declaring a slew of measures to boost country's economy.